This woman charges $480 an hour to help Gen Z and millennial workers overcome their fear of talking on the phone.


Mary Jane Kops photo

Mary Jane Copps trains employees on how best to interact with customers over the phone.Mary Jane Cops

  • Mary Jane Copps founded The Phone Lady consultancy to help people improve their telephone etiquette.

  • Copps trains Generation Z workers who are too used to texting and afraid to use their phones.

  • Her work includes helping people overcome “telephobia” and have better conversations.

Smartphones can do a lot, but many users rarely actually make calls with their smartphones.

As a result, many young employees lack the confidence to speak effectively on the phone at work.

Mary Jane Cops discovered the rise of “telephobia” 16 years ago, phone lady Helps companies improve their staff’s telephony skills.

“Generation Z has never had the skills that were given to them,” she told Insider. We were taught to go out and make phone calls.

“There are now several generations where people have removed phones from their homes without being taught anything about talking on the phone.”

Alison Papadakis, director of clinical psychology research at Johns Hopkins University, told Insider that telephone phobia is more common among younger people.

she said: It sets people vulnerable to social anxiety to feel anxious in the situation.

Copps charges $480 per hour for one-on-one coaching and $365 for 30-minute webinars as part of a seven-part program. For corporate workshops, the daily rate is $3,500. Insiders verified these figures using redacted invoices provided by Copps.

Many of Copps’ clients are in the financial sector or start-ups. Her first step is to figure out why individuals feel phone anxiety.

“A common fear is what happens if someone asks me a question and I don’t know the answer,” she said. Please tell your friends and family to call.

“If they’re not used to talking to their mothers on the phone, the process can be very scary. We are their families and acquaintances.”

Improvising over the phone is scary, so her approach involves role-playing. “If people aren’t ready to answer the phone, we set up random phone calls throughout the day to practice speaking,” she says.

“You can’t build a relationship by email because you don’t interact and you can’t hear each other’s tone of voice,” she said, adding that phone calls are “important for expressing interest and enthusiasm.” rice field.

Read the original article at business insider